Aviary bottom beddings - been trying aspen bedding

[Anne73]

I switched about a month ago from newspaper to aspen bedding for the bottom of my small aviarys. I like the looks of the aspen over newspaper - to look neat much longer, although now after trying it out for a while, I am thinking of trying either paper pellets or unscented cat litter. If you have used either of these, how did you like them? I put a layer of newpaper down and then the aspen bedding over that. Since I have small aviarys, the birds flying close to the floor, ends up scattering the aspen towards the outside edges and leaves the newpaper showing in the middle. It gets into the terra cotta saucers that I use as dishes on the floor ( for food, eggsshells etc. ) that I have to pick out. The birds like to chew on the aspen, which they seem to enjoy though. I am wondering if the pellets or cat litter would stay over the surface better without being scattered to the sides? What are the pro and cons of those beddings?

[6finchfriends]

I like my aspen bedding. I don't put newspaper under it and even though the floors of both my flights are smooth, the aspen shavings pretty much stay put. when I do spot cleaning I usually just scoot what's collected around the edges back towards the center. I love the fact that there is never a 'poop' smell like when there was newspaper down. Even when I changed the paper every day it smelled kind of 'birdy' in the bird room. Now it smells like fresh clean wood. Sorry I don't know about the other substrates. I have heard the wood pellets work very well.

[Anne73]

I do like the smell of the Aspen too. I might even try a mix - say something else in the middle and aspen mostly just under the perch spots where most of the poop collects.

[Anne73]

I have been trying the Kaytee brand of aspen shavings. They blow around too much for my small aviarys though -when the birds fly low by their food dishes. Is there a brand out there that anyone has tried, with either larger/heavier pieces or chips, that don't blow so easy? I tried corn cob pieces this week too, but they blow around too much also. I bought a bag of compressed paper unsented cat litter to try, but to me it does not have a pleasant smell, or do the other recycled papers products I have smelled in the stores. The compressed aspen wood pellets that I had seen at Petsmart look too big for finches to walk around on easily. I guess I am still searching for that "perfect" floor covering. So far I like the aspen the best, though. What brands of aspen product have you tried, and how did you like them.

[Dayna]

I found this website helpful with bedding and numerous other things.

http://www.finchaviary.com/Accessories/ ... vering.htm

[Anne73]

That is a very good link for pros and cons on bedding types. Thank you for posting it.

[Sally]

I have used a product called Oil Dri that you find in the auto supply department. It is meant to absorb oil spills, very similar to cat litter. Pros--inexpensive, stays in place, can use a reptile sand scoop to scoop out poop areas, bath water splashes are absorbed quickly. Cons--is heavy, especially if you have plastic trays, is dusty when first placed in tray, and it can dry the air, as it absorbs moisture.

My birds will peck around in it, but it doesn't seem to hurt them. When it is time to change it out, I just dump the whole tray in a garden cart and it goes out to a dump pile in the back pasture.

[Ursula]

I'm using aspen shavings currently in my indoor walk-in aviary. But I am in the process of researching to use something else, because the Kaytee aspen shavings definitely lost in quality during the last year or so. The dust accumulation in our house is now unbearable and I need to find an alternative. I use bedding in the aviary because of my button quail, otherwise I'd probably go with newspaper or towels like other members do in their aviaries. Just for testing I recently bought a bag of carefresh, but it's dusty too. And I got a bag of these little paper squiggles (eco bedding), which I will probably use in future. It's not dusty and it's soft. The downside is I am not crazy about absorption and it is pretty light weight. I wouldn't use it in cages because you'll have the stuff all over.

In my parrotlet cage I am using wood pellets and I'm very happy with that. It absorbs well and smells good. I do use it under the crate though. I think if I were to go back to cages for all my birds, that's probably what I'd use for all of them. I don't want to use it as bedding for the aviary though because it's not very soft and I'm not sure that it would be ideal for the quail.

[Anne73]

I bought a bag of unscented, clay dust free cat litter to try, but after opening it - realized that many of the pieces are too small and light, and will get scattered around by the finches like the aspen and corn cob bedding I have recently been trying out. The cat litter will work for oil dry for my husband though. I found "Aspen Supreme" pellets at Petco and got a bag and am trying it out now. A good sized pellet for finches I thought, heavier than anything else I have tried, so will see how much it scatters. I am using it in a small aviary near my computer, so like this one to look neat all the time. The pellets smell a little strong though at least when first opened, so I am leaving the bag open in another spot to see if they will air out more. I liked the smell of the regular aspen bedding much better. I went back to newspaper for my other aviary now. With seed hoppers with catch trays in both of the aviarys, it sure keeps the hulled seed mess down well.

[Anne73]

It is evening and after having the "Aspen Supreme" pellets in the bird aviary near my computer, and sitting there for about an hour, the odor from it was bothering me quite a bit. I have very mild asthma. My aviary is a couple of feet away from my chair and pretty enclosed, so I was very concerned that my finches might suffer ill effects from breathing it in there. I pulled the pellets out, and will let them all air out on a back porch for several days, to see if the smell decreases from it. The bags says its all natural, yet the smell is strong compared to fluffy aspen pet bedding.